Many people place decorative accessory holders on the front edges of fireplace mantels to hold items such as Christmas stockings and lights, figurines, garland, strings of mistletoe and the like. One prior accessory holder takes the form of a weighted figurine with an attached hanger that extends over the front edge of the mantel. The figurine is heavily weighted to keep not only itself in place, but also to keep it from slipping off the mantel despite the weight of decorations suspended from its hanger. This weighted figurine technique applies well to all mantel surface types, including harder surfaces such as marble or granite. However, weighted figurines have a limited weight-holding capability. The weighted figurines can be accidentally pulled off a mantel by a child and damage the figurine or flooring beneath the mantel. More importantly, the falling weighted figurine could cause personal injury. This is particularly the case when a curious small child might pull at a stocking, dislodging the figurine and directing its fall toward the child. With a typical mantel height, a weighted figurine could be traveling between 6 and 10 mph when it strikes a child, and could cause injury.
Most of the currently available Christmas stocking holders are designed for the sole purpose of hanging Christmas stockings. Stringing lights, garland, and other decorations between stocking holders is not a realistic option for two reasons. First, the hooks are often too small or too awkward to use for anything other than hanging stockings. In addition, the vast majority of these products cannot support the weight of lights and garland. Even the heaviest products tend to slide out of place when items are strung from adjacent stocking holders, since they frequently slide on the mantel or shelf surface.
One prior art Christmas stocking holder is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 5,642,819 issued Jul. 1, 1997 to Ronia. The stocking holder taught in this patent consists of a plurality of C-type clamps that clamp onto the front edge of a mantel or shelf. The clamps are spaced from each other and have a rod passing underneath, supported by the C clamps.
Another prior art means for supporting articles from a mantel, shelf or similar planar surface is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 6,378,827 issued Apr. 30, 2002 to Kacines. This means of supporting articles is a one-piece metal clip that has a general C-shape with decorative additions and a point for hanging items such as Christmas stockings. When the clip is slid onto the edge of a mantel or shelf, the opening of the clip is expanded, creating a spring pressure to hold the clip on the edge of the mantel or shelf.
The above-cited prior art teaches rather complex stocking holders and ones that can be too easily be pulled from the edge of a mantel or shelf. Therefore, there is a need in the art for an improved device for securing decorative accessories hanging from the front edge of a mantel or shelf.